Irreplaceable
by SweetlySinisterScribbler
Summary: Noah likes him, but he seems distracted. Could there be someone else? What is Noah willing to do to get her man? Part 1 of the Reality Series.


**Hey guys! So this is my first Full-Metal Alchemist story. I hope you guys enjoys it!**

Third Person P.O.V.

She liked him, a lot. He had saved her when she needed saving the most and had given her a roof to live under with meals three times a day. He made her feel protected and that nothing could ever come near her when he was around. She would catch his eye and give him a smile, attempting to entice him. She liked that he was taller and had a metal arm. She liked that he kept his hair long, refusing to let anyone near it. Then his eyes. Like flames, she was the moth being drawn to them. She understood what he went through to save his brother and that only made her like him more. There was nothing wrong with him, except his secretiveness.

Noah found the photo in his bag of a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes so enchanting that you couldn't look away. She couldn't recognize her, couldn't remember her from any conversations she had with the Alchemist and his brother. Surely she would remember this girl. Right? She wanted to know, feeling angry that the older brother had not told her about this girl earlier. Noah stormed out of the room and went downstairs to them, handing the older brother the picture, asking who this girl is.

She got no answer, just a glare. One that read she had stumbled upon his greatest secret.

She tried to be the girl. Changed her hair to be long and blonde, put dye in her eyes to make them blue…even changed her way of dress. He yelled, telling her to drop it. Go back to her old self and never bring it up again. She didn't.

Things went back to normal, whatever that was. The brothers would disappear all day, come home and eat, just to sleep. This happened for a while and Noah bit back everything. Every question, every concern and every feeling. Watching him from afar, she would see the older one pull out the picture and rub his thumb against the girl's face. A sign of affection. Was this a girlfriend that Noah didn't know about? A wife? No.

Noah started digging through the older one's stuff more and more while the brothers were gone. She would find clothes and notes on alchemy, she found some kind of watch that had been sealed shut and a small handkerchief folded up neatly. Gently unfolding it, she found her hand holding many pairs of little earrings. Nothing grand or shiny, small but meaningful. Were these for her or that blonde girl?

She would start to put the earrings in her ears, one pair a day until she had no more. She found nothing wrong with it until the younger one warned her to take them out before the older brother found out. Telling her that the older Elric brother would throw her out without a second thought if he found out. Over earrings? Did it not matter if the older brother thought her to be stealing?

Then it happened. She started to hear him whimper in his sleep. Would sneak in and sit by his bedside, try to make the nightmares stop. At least, she thought they were nightmares. She would be sweating as if in one, but the smile on his face would take that thought away. She would hear him mutter about a colonel and a hawks' eye, then a man with a scar. Finally she would hear about a gearhead. Why is he smiling thinking of gears and their heads? Noah would wonder.

She had enough. Noah wanted Ed's attention and she wanted answers. Getting rid of the younger one, she dragged the older one out of the house to go shopping. This didn't work out how she wanted. He would stop and watch mechanics work on stuff, he would avoid her questions even simple ones like how he was feeling that day, even kept a good amount of distance between them no matter what she did.

The older one went into a tool shop to look around and she followed groaning a little. Of course when she asked why they were in there instead of the dress shop across the street… he ignored her. When she saw him pick up a wrench, she immediately saw his eyes light up and the ghost of a smile on his lips. He paid for it and left, not caring if she was following.

It's official. Noah was confused. All she did was ask a question and earned the death glare. The boy wouldn't give her a look, much less a second one, but would look so longingly at the girl in the photo. He wouldn't answer her questions, but would smile at a wrench and get so happy. She was done with this secrecy, but didn't want to leave. This world was not a safe one for girls to be on their own. They needed a man for protection, so she needed to stay.

She told the younger one who laughed at the confession. Mentioned that nothing would happen between his older brother and Noah. Why not? Was she not woman enough? Was it that she had no knowledge of this alchemy stuff? Her worries were proven wrong.

Being told that she could never be even close to what the older one needed and wanted, no matter what she would do had hurt to hear. What was worse was that she was too much of a girl. She didn't have that special bit to make her stand out.

She told Alphonse that she could change. Could make herself love the alchemy stuff and be less of a girl. He told her no. Told her that it would not matter what she did or who she was, it wouldn't work. She didn't know their background, where they grew up or who their friends were. She didn't see Edward before or after the surgery and could never begin to understand what they went though. But she needed to know.

"Why not? What's so special about that girl in the photo?"

"She's Winry. She's what gives brother the strength to go on. Knowing that there is a chance to not only see her again, but that he can have the family he envisioned having with her. She loves him, always has. He loves her, always will."


End file.
